Aftermath

Waking up this morning my first thought turned to yesterday’s events. I easily came to terms with the fact we were out of the world cup, probably because after about 70 minutes it was clear the dream was over and that we couldn’t over turn any deficit we were faced with. We had the last 20 or so minutes of the match to start coming to terms with it. Yesterday, for me, it didn’t matter about the result, all that mattered was we were out the world cup. Today, however, my first though was the result; the 4-1. And I felt ashamed, sad, and slightly stupid; stupid to believe all the media talk that we’d wipe the floor with any team we came across at this world cup; but that’s all it was: media talk.

I’ve talked about pressure a lot. I’ve talked about expectation even more. But these players have had too much of this to cope with. I’m not saying that’s an excuse for them - to be honest I haven’t really got an excuse for them - but it’s part of the many reasons why we underperformed and why we didn’t live up to expectation; because really, the expectation was too false.


Adverts, newspapers, articles; all making us think we could be world beaters, that we could beat anyone we wanted to and that we hardly had to even lift a finger. That was drummed into ours and the players’ skull so much, that the players even believed they didn’t have to work hard to beat teams such as Algeria. And we didn’t. we didn’t play out of our skins and as a result, we didn’t pick up the wins we needed. The media told us so many times that we would be okay; that we’d win our group easily: but we didn’t, did we? Maybe Franz Beckenbauer was right, maybe we were “stupid” to finish second in our group. We definitely were “stupid” enough to believe the media though; “stupid” enough to go along with the ‘we will win the world cup’ attitude. So “stupid” that none of us thought about the ‘what ifs’ until we drew against Algeria. That’s when it really hit home. That’s when you realised; this ‘dream’ of winning the world cup again was exactly that; it was just a dream.

This world cup for England has been like some sort of big explosion; now we’ve all got to pick up the pieces and try and fit them together so we can work out exactly what went wrong and where it went wrong. I don’t believe it’s the manager, I don’t believe it’s the tactics, I don’t believe it’s the players, I don’t believe it’s down to luck and the fact we never had it on our side; I believe it’s all of those things combined, none of which suit each other perfectly.

This world cup marked the end of an England era; some of those players might not play for England again, most of those players probably won’t play in the next world cup. It’s almost as if we have to act like our team has been relegated; we need to start again. With players like James Milner and Joe hart already breaking through into the team, it’s already begun, and players from the under-21 set up will soon join them, hopefully with Adam Johnson being the first player to be called up to the team. And watching Sky Sports news this morning you see how old the players will be next time the world cup comes around; Gerrard, Lampard, Terry; they might all be too old by then, especially if the promising younger players turn out how they should. That could’ve been their last world cup.







They won’t receive a heroes welcome when they arrive back in London like we’d all hoped - or been told - in fact the only place they’d receive a heroes welcome would probably be if they landed at Glasgow airport. They won’t receive a pat on the back, a ‘well done’ or an ‘at least you tried’ because it’d be pretty hypocritical to do all that. They know how they played, they know it wasn’t good enough and they know they now have to face the consequences. We shouldn’t try and protect them from this; it’s all part of football and it’s something by now they should be used to.

People will go on about this whole episode for weeks now, until they get bored of it at least. There’ll be rumours and speculation about the managers position, about the F.A, about everything connected with it really. None of us know how it’s going to turn out in the end; who will be playing for us in the qualifiers come September; if Capello will still be there then. They only thing we know for sure is the only thing we can possibly do right now; look to the future. There’s no point dwelling on the past too much, because we can’t change it. The only decent thing anyone can do is for the media to admit they were wrong, and the England players, staff and manager to all admit they were wrong too. All we can do is accept it and move on. There’s nothing we can change about it, no matter how much we all want to. I know all of us would do anything to reverse these last few weeks and change it for the better; but unfortunately, along with goal-line technology, that's an idea yet to be crafted into reality.

Football's not coming home just yet. It's staying in another country for a while, until we do that little bit more to truly deserve it. It'll be more special that way.

It’s time to get out the old cliché: Where did it all go wrong?

The questions ‘how?’ and ‘why?’ will be asked in the press a lot in the aftermath of this game, but in all honestly none of us will ever really know the answers. All we know is that it happened. This gut we retching feeling, the disgust, being let down and the mild anger will subside, but the mist covering the real reason behind why we didn’t play to our full potential is something that will never clear. We just have to move on I suppose.

I had to start this blog right at the end of the match, because I have so much I want to say, and I know I’ll forget it all if I leave it until later. Right now I’m a mix of emotions, so I’m sorry if this doesn’t make sense; if it angers you; if I swear a lot; if you don’t agree with me, etc.

We all have opinions - football is based on them. Some people will tell you outright how awful England played, and some will defend them till the cows come home that they’re only human and we all make mistakes. I’m part of the ‘on the fence’ group - I know we played badly and I can admit it, but I know that these England players aren’t ‘awful’ and they aren’t a ‘disgrace.’ A fan on the news just summed it up for me: “as far as im concerned it’s a life of misery supporting England, but I’ll never stop.”

~

I’ll start with the obvious - England have been knocked out the World Cup by a much stronger and frankly better German team. I don’t want to bore you with what all the pundits are saying so I won’t talk too much about the game. You all know what happened; you saw it.

It was a pretty poor performance - especially by the back four - and you can’t really complain much about being knocked out, because this is a competition compiled of the best teams in the world, and right now, England aren’t up there with them, and it was shown today. It's also meant to bring out the best in teams and in individual players; unfortunately that never happened either. We are lucky it was only four goals.

The disallowed goal is something we'll all talk to death about. I’ve been calling for goal-line technology for a while, a lot of people have, but the real thing that did it for me was Portsmouth v Blues in the FA Cup quarter final, when Ridgewell’s goal crossed the line, David James clawed it out from behind the line (still not forgiven you Jameo) and the linesman said ‘no goal‘. That was also the day Sepp Blatter and Co. said they will not and will never succumb to the idea of goal-line technology. Ironic, really when you think about it. But now, on the world stage, everyone has seen how much it is needed, and I hope that fat prick reconsiders this idea. Or linesmen on the by-line, referees with glasses, linesmen without money in their back-pocket from the opposing team… of course I’m joking by now - but you get what I mean: just anything to make our game fairer.

Of course, that extra goal might not of mattered. But 2-2 at half time, it’s like starting the game all over again - all square, all even - England had picked up the momentum after Upson’s goal and Lampard’s disallowed-but-5-yards-over-the-line-goal, and I could see them containing Germany at least. But it wasn’t the case, and we can’t live off ‘maybes’ and ‘should haves’ - fact is, we didn’t do enough to warrant a place in the next round of the competition. And as a result are going home with our tails firmly between our legs, a sollum, discontent look etched on every face; player and fan alike.

The aftermath of this game will be huge. Not just because we lost to Germany, not just because we lost 4-1, but because of the manner in which we played, performed and ultimately failed in this competition. In my eyes, the main problem has been this huge expectation that the players have been lumbered with; these players been become immortalised like they can do nothing wrong; we have been made to forget that they are just human beings, some have played in under-performing teams this season; some have been surrounded by a team of class acts which have maybe made them looked better than they actually are - please don’t take that the wrong way; all the England players have brilliant talent, they wouldn’t be playing for England otherwise, but what I’m saying is that sometimes when you have better players to play with, you play better yourself because you’ve got such class players around you. If that makes much sense, I’m not sure it does.

The next thing I really wanted to talk about: fickle fans. I find it annoyingly hilarious how at the start of every game (all four of them…) that England played, people would say “COME ON ENGLAND!” then throughout the game, and throughout the days England weren’t playing, and at the end of the game when England hadn’t played well, they slagged England off to the high heavens.

Even more hilarious was the fact that some people said they now support different teams. Brilliant. That’s fantastic that is; I admire your ability to stick by your team (sense the sarcasm). It’s as bad as glory hunting; it’s as bad as when people do it for Premier League teams; something you all think is so wrong during the normal season, and yet when it comes to international competitions, you do exactly what you think is so low! Hark at you all high, mighty and judgemental during the season; hark at you criticising other people for being fickle; take the log out your own eye before you take the speck out of someone else’s. I'm not aiming this at one or two people, but every single person that has acted in this way throughout the world cup. You have lost my respect.

I don’t mind people who don’t support England from the off; that doesn’t bother me. But if you make a choice to support a team; stick by it. Saying come on England at the start of the game and then cheering when Germany score is like supporting Chelsea and then giving up when they lose a game and going to support Manchester United.

Fickle fans brings me onto jealous fans. It’s true, football can sometimes bring out the worst in people, and being green with envy is the worst emotion I’ve witnessed displayed by people of Irish and Scottish descent. Not all of them are like that though, I know two Irish lads; Irish through and through. They supported England throughout this world cup like they were English themselves. I admired them for that. I wish more people were like them. I support Scotland, Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland when they play, I don’t know why it’s never reciprocated. I never will understand I don’t think.

The thing I'm most sick of though, is people saying that the England players don’t care. They do. Ten years ago, they were the lads dreaming of playing for England; they were just like you and me. They care. They care so much you wouldn’t believe. They wanted this as much as the rest of us did, but shit happens, and sometimes we don’t quite know why; sometimes there’s no explanation for it: there’s not explanation ad the why 23 of the best players England have underperformed. There’s nothing that can comprehend it, but you can’t stand up and defend England; after three bad performances and one quite good one, there’s nothing you can say that can make anything better or that can make them look better.

The simple fact is that the players were not good enough in the games that they played in, and we move on. We have to. We can’t dwell on what could or should have been; we can’t think “what if” because it didn’t happen and we can’t change it. Yes, it’s disappointing; yes, it’s one of the most horrible feelings in the world; but this is football. It bites you in the arse; it fucks you over; it takes all your hopes and dreams and rips them up and throws them away. But it’s the sport we love; and one day we’ll be rewarded for all this pain we’ve ever felt. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait a couple more years to have another stab at another competition, but we’ll all be there supporting them when it happens; the team will be different, the manager might well be too; but the support, the belief and the hope will all still be the same. It has been ever since football was invented, and since the very first World Cup.

~

I’ve said pretty much all I wanted to say now. I hope you pick out the points I wanted to make and get across in this non-coherent mess. Some of you might get the wrong impression from this, like I’m not fully behind England; trust me, I've never been more behind them. My club is Birmingham City - that alone speaks for it’s self. I know what It's like. This feeling os disappointment. It gets worse each time. Belief is one thing but loyalty is what makes it stronger.

Maybe. Just maybe, next time it will be our time.

Maybe, Just Maybe

It was tempting fate wasn't it? As soon as the groups were drawn the whole country was planning the knock-out stages and beyond, because surely we could beat everyone in that group; because surely England could finish top of Group C without even breaking sweat. Expectation gets the better of us sometimes, and making your expectations too high really comes back to bite you. And it did with England.

We didn’t finish top of the group. But we qualified, eventually. We did nearly finish top; about thirty seconds away from us finishing first actually; but a late USA goal not only made us slip down to second, but eliminated Slovenia from the competition, and from qualifying in second place.

Going into the game against Slovenia we were defiantly out of our comfort zone. The previous two games we had played below par, which was strange for a team of England’s stature and ability, and the fact we had to win to go through put England in a position they weren’t used to being in, let alone being comfortable in. A different England turned up on Wednesday afternoon, or should I say the England that we used to know; fire in the belly, body on the line type of play was displayed throughout the game against Slovenia. And we won. 1-0. It should’ve been more, it really should’ve; but in the situation we were in, we just wanted the win, It was the most important thing and nothing else mattered as long as we picked up our first three points, for the passage to the next round and to the knock-out stages.

I don’t know why we played so below par in the first two matches, I don’t know how we turned it on just like that against Slovenia. In all honesty I don’t care, because all that matters is that we did it; we qualified and we now have a strong momentum to take us into the next game. And who awaits for us in the next game? Germany. The arch-nemesis. The rivals. The people we would most love to beat on our way to the final. The team that are standing in our way of the quarter finals and a possible tie with another hated team in Argentina, is Germany.

In a way, even though this is a team we wouldn’t of necessarily liked to play in the knock out stages, it’s good that we’ve been handed a team such as Germany - because we step up when we play bigger and better teams. We rise to the occasion, more so that we would’ve done if he had finished first and had to play Ghana. No disrespect to Ghana when saying that; they did brilliant in the group stages and the USA will have a tough game against them. But the fact that we have so much history with Germany, and that they are a more technically gifted team, England will want to win more than ever. And like they say, to be the best you have to beat the best; and Germany certainly fall into that category.

There’s a definite air of confidence about Sunday’s game, and while the likes of Scotland and Ireland are wetting themselves waiting for Germany to beat us, the whole of England is not heaping the expectation upon England like before, but heaping the support on them instead. Instead having the ‘we’re going to win!’ attitude that turned on us quite violently during the group stages, we now have the ‘come on England, we know you can do it’ type of attitude - more support than pressure, and it could just help England onto victory.

I don’t think it will be another 1-5, although that would be more than special. I think it will be a close encounter between two brilliant teams of twenty-two gifted footballers. Nothing more can be expected from England than a good performance; the World Cup is the best competition in the world, but it’s also the most unpredictable: who would’ve predicted Italy, the reigning champions, would be knocked out at the group stages? Finish last in their group? Who would’ve thought Spain would lose to Switzerland? No one. The fact that any team can beat anyone on their day makes it so exciting, Lets just hope it’s England’s day.

A Nation Expects

They say it’s meant to feel a bit better in the morning, but frankly waking up this morning it feels the same as last night, just minus the anger.

you can’t ignore it; England we’re very poor. I would swear, but I try to be professional on this. They lacked creation, invention, desire and inspiration. The miss-placed passes, the wayward shots and the lack of creating anything made it so I’d rather watch re-runs of Burnley’s away games from last season, than watch our national team fail quite miserably at getting past Algeria. But I don’t get it. No one does. I can’t fathom an explanation and to why the eleven greatest players in England couldn’t outplay an Algerian side which, no offence, is made up of players we have never heard of, bar two or three. I refuse to believe the ‘eleven talented individuals can’t play as a team’ tag that people throw around after big teams lose is the reason, because it’s not: it’s nonsense. We can play as a team, because we’ve done it before. Anyone that says otherwise clearly doesn’t know much about our national team. But last night there was something that didn’t click; nothing worked, and it left the whole of England trying to figure out exactly why we just weren’t good enough.



We had the bulk of the possession in the second half, the most shots on goal and on target. But when we were on the ball we just seemed to be running around in circles. What really summed it up for me was in the later stages of the second half; the ball landed in front of Gareth Barry and Steven Gerrard - they both looked at each other as if you say “Take it” - they both seemed reluctant to take the ball and drive forward. Two of England’s best players, one being our captain, and neither of them wanted to take the ball on. It was really very strange.

Expectation is the one big thing that has been put on these players shoulders, and it seems to be weighing them down. But after the first game and the Green mistake, there seems to be just pressure on the players to just get through to the knock out stages; rather than expecting us to just get through the group and win all our matches along the way, we’re not at a stage where we’re two games down and only have two points on the board. It’s turned from expectation of “no worries, we’ll get through just fine’ to the pressure of “you have to win. You just have to.” And the pressure of this seems to be getting to them too much.

But why? They’re all premier league players; most have played in the champions league and in premier league title-deciding fixtures. They’ve all dealt with this kind of pressure before, and so have other teams. Argentina; they have a lot of pressure to perform because their nation has had this same expectrion heaped on them; why? Because of one man: Messi. And already without scoring, and having only played two games, he’s lived up to his expectation; he’s been great. Rooney; same pressure, same expectation, but same results? No. Not that I’m singling Rooney out. They all under-performed and lacked creation last night. But for a man with so much talent, in both games he’s looked surprisingly slow, and nothing has gone right for him; no ball has fell to him how he’d want it to.

After being labelled potential World Cup winners, it’s strange to see England playing like this. The saddest thing was probably watching David Beckham on the sideline, a look of frustration and willingness on his face. He looked tired, fed up, and at one point, like he just wanted to grab a kit and run on the pitch and play. That’s who we were missing last night: someone that can change a game; someone that can lead us; someone that can pick a pass over 40 yards and not get it wrong; someone who can put a pin-point cross in; someone who can take corners that will actually beat the first man. We miss him. But there’s nothing we can do about it; the rest of the players have to step up now.

Fact is, we know we can do it. We know we can perform much better than this. I can’t tell you why it’s not working, I’m not sure Capello can either. The only thing we know is that there’s eleven men out there on that field, who are world-class players, but who aren’t performing on the big stage.